Method of manufacturing metal wheels.



PATENTED OCT. 25, 1904. G. BORG. METHOD OF MANUFACTURING METAL WHEELS.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 18 1904.

HEETB-SHBET 1.

N0 MODEL.

a W w PATENTED OCT. 25, 1904.

C. BORG.

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING METAL WHEELS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 18. 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 NO MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented October 25, 1904.

PATENT EEioE.

CHRIS BORG, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO INTERNATIONAL HARVESTERCOMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NFIW JERSEY.

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING METAL WHEELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 773,465, dated October25, 1904:.

Application filed April 18, 1904:. Serial Nu. 203,590. No model.)

To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Crisis BORG, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and Improved Method of Manufacturing Metal Wheels, ofwhich the following is a complete specification.

In the methods heretofore employed in the manufacture of metal wheels ithas been the common practice to unite the spokes to the rim and hub ofthe wheel by closing or welding the rim after the spokes have beensecured thereto. In doing this, to avoid the consequent shortening ofthe spokes, the shoulders or flanges abutting the outside of the hub andthe inside of the rim were either previously formed upon the spokes orscraped up, so the length of the spokes would not be affected. Such amethod of procedure is more or less objectionable, because, first, ofthe extra work required in upsetting the end of the blank for the spokesto provide stock for the scrapedup shoulders; secondly, if the spokeswere not of a uniform length a perfectly circular contour of thewheel-rim could not be obtained, and, furthermore, a tension-wheel couldnot in this way be well produced without previously heating the spokes.

The invention herein set forth is designed to overcome such diflicultiesand to provide a method of manufacturing metal wheels in which allprevious upsetting or forming of shoulders, flanges, or tenons upon thestroke may be dispensed with, in which the original length and structureof the spoke-body when once in place will not be disturbed, and in whicha closed rim and a tension-wheel of a uniformly circular outline can beproduced.

The method consists, essentially, in providing spoke-blanks of a lengthsufficient to aiford stock for shoulders and heads when upset by meansof which securement of the spoke to the rim and hub is effected and inorder to effect such securement to spring a portion of the rim adjacentthereto outwardly beyond its normal position and then to return thesprung portion of the rim to its normal position and simultaneouslytherewith to complete the connection of the spoke with the hub and rim.

The adoption of this improved method of manufacturing metal wheels is ofcourse conditioned upon the employment of a somewhat the manufacture ofwheels of a rather light construction and of a considerable diametersuch, for instance, as rake-wheels.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of ahub, a fragment of the rim, "and a spoke having a shoulder formed on therim end thereof, the spoke being shown both in its edgewise and flatwiseposition. Fig. 2 is a partially transverse section of a hub and rim,illustrating the manner of inserting the spoke. Fig. 3 represents thespoke properly placed in relation to the other members of the wheel andthe gripping-jaws in position ready for clamping the spoke and theheading-tools before engagement with the ends of the spoke. Fig. I showsthe next step in which the spoke is secured to the rim and the rimsprung outwardly, the gripping-jaws hav- .elastic rim, and hence is moreapplicable to ing gripped the spoke and sprung the segment of the rimfrom the normal position shown in dotted lines in this figure to theposition shown in full lines,the head having been formed on the outsideof the rim by asuitable heading-tool. Fig. 5 shows the spoke and rimafter having been returned to their normal position and simultaneouswith such movement a shoulder having been formed without the hub and ahead within the hub. Fig. 6 represents a portion of a wheel as itappears when complete. Fig. 7 illustrates the application of theimproved method in securing the spoke to a Wheel which is provided withlaterallydisposed peripheral flanges, and Fig. 8 illustrates theapplication of the improved method of the securement of the spokes tothe members of the Wheel in which the spoke is first secured to the hubinstead of to the tire.

In the application of this improved method the following members areprovided, viz: A hub having holes or mortises uniformly spaced and inwhich the spokes are received, spokes, either plain or shouldered, atone end, preferably the latter, and a closed rim or a rim formed of amember the ends of which have been Welded or otherwise united before thespokes have been inserted therein, the said rim being also provided withapertures for the reception of the spokes corresponding in number anddisposition with those in the hub. These several parts are shown in Fig.1, in which A designates the hub, and a the mortises or holes therein. Brepresents a spoke of an oval cross-section, bthe shoulder previouslyformed on the outer end thereof, and 7) the tenon on the rim end of thespoke.

C designates a segment of the rim or tire. The spoke-B is thrust intoone of the openings in the hub until the outer end of the spoke comeswithin the curved plane touching the inside of the rim C, as shown inFig.

' 2. The outer end of the spoke is then brought into alinement with thecorresponding mortise 0 in the rim C and the tenon & inserted therein.The next step in the operation is to grip the spoke adjacent to theshoulder 7) with suitable means-such, for instance, as the cooperatingjaws D shown in the several figures. In Fig. 3 these jaws are shown inposition, but not gripped. In Fig. 4 the jaws I) are gripped upon thespoke and moved outwardly, moving the spolre 'B and springing theadjacent portions of the tire outwardly, as shown in Fig. 4, theposition of the supports E and E determining the length of the segmentof the rim which is sprung outwardly. This segment consists, preferably,of an are equal in length to a spoke-space on either side of the spokebeing secured. A head is then formed on the outer end of the spoke, asshown in Fig. 5, the head being formed on the outside of the rim G byany suitable meanssuch, for instance, as the upsettingdie F.

The operation of springing the segment of the tire outwardly and theforming of a head upon the spoke outside the rim may be accomplishedeither simultaneously or successively; but if successively of course thegripping-jaws must remain in contact with the shoulder Z; of the spoke.The spoke Bis then caused to move inwardly by suitable means, preferablyby the same gripping-jaws D which have not yet been released from thesaid spoke. In the inward movement of the spoke, carrying with it therim, which follows to its normal position, a shoulder b is formedthereon outside the hub, the said shoulder being formed by longitudinalcompression and the lateral expansion of that portion of the spoke shownin Fig. 4 which lies between the line 1 1, the said line being the traceof a plane passing through the inner margin of the die on the end of thegripping-jaws D and the line 2 2 tangent to the hub at the margin of themortise a. Simultaneous with this last-described operation a head Z2 isformed on the end of the spoke inside of the hub by means of theheading-tool G or other suitable mechanism. This completes theseourement of one spoke and will leave the rim and hub in their proper 5relative position, with heads on each end of the spoke and a shoulderwithin the rim and without the hub. If the spoke and grippingjaws aremade to move an amount slightly in excess of the amount the rim has beensprung outwardly, then the said spoke will be putin tension, the properdegree of tension being determined by the excess of the inward movementof the spoke and gripping-jaws over the distance the rim has been sprungoutwardly. All the spokes of the wheel are secured to the hub and rim inthe same manner, resulting in the construction of a complete wheel, apart of which is shown in Fig. 6.

If the rim is provided with laterally-disposed inwardly-projectingperipheral flanges, as shown in Fig. 7, then it might be foundconvenient to have the outward movement of the spoke and rich and theinward movement and upsetting of the inner end of the spoke accomplishedby separate jaws, as shown in said figure. In the use of such a rim theemployment of independent jaws may be found expedient, since an extramovement of the gripping-jaws would be required to engage them with theshoulder on the spoke at a position immediately beneath the rim. Thisextra movement of the jaws is indicated by the dotted'line position ofsaid jaws in Fig. 7. Such independent step for producing the inward andoutward movement of the rim and spoke, if employed, would not be adeparture from the spirit of this invention. Furthermore, it is notessential that a shoulder be formed upon the rim end of the spoke beforeit is placed in position, since this shoulder may be formedsimultaneously with the outward movement of the spoke and rim and theupsetting of the head on the outer end of the spoke, providing thespoke-hole in the rim corresponds in outline to the cross-section of thespoke.

As the essence of this invention lies in the step of springing outwardlythe rim to utilize the extra stock for the formation of a shoulder inthe spoke, it follows that it is also immaterial whether the spoke befirst secured to the rim and then sprung before forming the shoulderoutside the hub or whether the spoke be first secured to the hub andthen the tire sprung before forming a shoulder within and a head withoutthe rim. This last-described method is illustrated in Fig. 8, whichshows a spoke B secured to the hub A of a wheel. That portion of the rimbetween the supporting-blocks E is then sprung outwardly by the plungersH, the remainder of the wheel remaining stationary. This position isshown by full lines in this figure, and the sprung portion of the rim ismade to lie intermediate of the upsetting-die F and the gripping-jawsgitudinally, forming the head 6 outside the rim and the shoulder 6within the rim. The gripping-jaws D in their movement carry with themthe entire wheel, so that when the head and shoulder b and b arecompleted on the spoke the wheel and several parts will be moved tooccupy the position shown in dotted lines in this figure. This amountsto the wheel as a whole being permitted to adjust itself to normalposition with the sprung segment thereof and simultaneous with suchmovement having a shoulder formed within the rim and a head on the endof the spoke Without the rim.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In the manufacture of metal wheels, the method of uniting the severalmembers thereof comprising a closed rim, spokes and the hub the saidmethod consisting in securing a spoke rigidly to one of said members inspringing the said rim outwardly, and in simultaneously upsetting thespoke immediately adjacent to the other one of said members an amountsubstantially equal to the distance the said rim has been sprungoutwardly and forming upon the end of the spoke an opposing head on theopposite side of said member, substantially as described.

2. In the manufacture of metal wheels the method of connecting thespokes to a closed rim and hub consisting in securing the spoke to thesaid rim, in springing the rim adjacent to the spoke and the spoke inconnection therewith outwardly, and in simultaneously returning the rimand spoke to their normal position, and forming by longitudinalcompression of the said spoke a shoulder without the hub and a headwithin the hub, substantially as described.

3. The method of manufacturing metal wheels consisting in securing thespokes to a closed rim, in gripping the said spoke in positionsimmediately adjacent to the hub and rim, in moving the said spokeradially and outwardly and thereby springing that portion of the rimadjacent thereto outwardly, and in simultaneously returning the saidspoke and rim substantially to their normal positions and upsetting onthe spoke a shoulder without the hub and a head within the hub.

CHRIS BORG.

Witnesses:

M. E. HoLToN, J C. WARNES.

